UFO ROUNDUP

Volume 9
Number 51
December 22, 2004

Editor: Joseph Trainor

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UFO AND SKY BOOMS ROCK LANZHOU, CHINA

On Saturday, December 11, 2004, "an unidentified
flying object, or UFO, passed across the large
northwestern city of Lanzhou," in China's Gansu province,
"and apparently exploded in the suburbs, (Chinese) state
radio said" on Monday, December 13, 2004.

"The unusual sighting of two bright trails of light,
reported by several hundred witnesses, took place Saturday
shortly before midnight, the China Times reported."

"Police, working on the theory that it was a
meteorite, went to investigate the matter. But, as of"
Tuesday, December 14, 2004, "they had found no evidence of
what had caused the nighttime phenomenon, an officer
said."

"One of the witnesses, a taxi driver named Zhang,
said he saw 'a shining ball with a 3-meter-long (10-foot-
long) tail flying from west to east' and heard 'two
thunders' right after, as he was driving from Lanzhou to
neighbouring Yongdeng county."

"The local Public Security Department confirmed that
they had received as many as 700 telephone calls on the
case, some saying it was an earthquake and others saying
it was an aerolite falling."

"Liu Yanan, astronomy professor at Northwest Normal
University, said that it might be a meteorite entering
Earth's atmosphere."

Lanzhou is located about 800 kilometers (500 miles)
west-southwest of Beijing, China's capital. (See the
Shanghai Star and Wuhan Daily for December 14, 2004,
"Hundreds report UFO in Lanzhou," and the Gansu Daily for
December 15, 2004, "Large UFO spotted in Gansu province."
Many thanks to Robert Fischer and Chen Jilin for these
newspaper articles.)

MORE ALIEN ACTIVITY SEEN IN THE HIMALAYAS

More alien activity has been reported in the
Himalayas, along the border shared by India and China,
Indian journalist Lara Mohani reported.

People living in the mountains on the Chinese side of
the border say they have been picking up mysterious
microwave and radio signals on their portable TVs and
radios.

"People in the Himalayas in Chinese territory have
recently reported strange microwave and radio signals,"
Lara Mohani reported.

"The signals are persistent, and are strongest in a
region called Kailash, revered for thousands of years by
Hindus as the door to heaven and the home of their god
Shiva."

"According to tourists and pilgrims" from India, "the
signals are real, and we now know where they are coming
from. The (mountain) region is beautiful and difficult to
reach. China provides special passports to Hindu pilgrims
from India or to Western tourists."

"There is no reason for satellite monitorings in the
area," Lara added, "The area is not known as a repository
for nuclear-tipped missiles (ICBMs). Some say the strange
signals have been more persistent recently due to the new
availability of more advanced radio receivers."

"Some of these signals come from below the (glacial)
lake at Kailash," which raised speculation in India's UFO
community that there may be either a saucer parked on the
bottom of the lake or a large alien underground base
beneath the lake itself.

"Some say the signals from from above--in the
heavens. Other than the Antarctic and the Arctic, this
(Kailash) is probably the coldest area of the world. In
the middle of the area lies a clear lake that is frozen
for most of the year."

"The severe cold makes it impossible for (Hindu)
pilgrims to go to Kailash. But some (Indian) scientists
did visit the area early in December (2004) and reported
the strange signals."

"It is possible that the signals came from some kind
of hidden Chinese military or space installation," Lara
added, "According to the local people, the Chinese
military is intently very active there."

"Are they signals from extraterrestrials? Is there
something paranormal going on here? Only more studies and
Chinese cooperation can tell us that."

"But when we talk to Hindu sages and rishis, they
smile and say that all that is unknown to human beings is
out there."

Remote Himalayan sites such as "Kailash, Kedernath
and Badrinath are all Hindu pilgrimage spots, like Mecca
is for the Muslims." (See the newspaper India Daily for
December 14, 2004, "Strange microwave and radio signals
around the glacier Kailash in the Indian-Chinese
Himalayas--ET signals?" Many thanks to Daniel Wilson for
this newspaper article.)

SIX UFOs SPOTTED OVER NORTHERN IRELAND

On Friday, December 17, 2004, at 9 p.m. Greenwich
time, Conor McManus was outdoors in Templepatrick, a small
town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK when he saw "a
flashing light going north in a burst of speed."

"They were purple and bright," he reported, "Six
flashes at roughly three-second intervals. I watched
these objects cross the sky for an estimated four miles.
I first saw them in the park at Templepatrick. They were
over a neighbouring town, Parkate, four miles (7
kilometers) away. The first burst of speed brought them
to the hill, then they kept on going until they passed
over me and towards the town of Antrim."

"My sister in Antrim saw it also. They covered the
land fast. Bangs and other noises were heard. Purple
light starting high in the sky" and descending "to the
ground. Four miles in six seconds." (Email Form Report)

UFO VIDEOTAPED NEAR MEXICO CITY

On Sunday, December 12, 2004, Mexican ufologist Ana
Luisa Cid Fernandes was on a skywatch near Mexico City.
She had her trusty SONY 340 camcorder handy in case she
spotted an unidentified flying object.

Suddenly, Ana Luisa reported, "I noticed a strange
light moving in the sky from south to north," from the
state of Morelos into the Distrito Federal. "Upon making
a closeup, I lowered the light intensity (exposure--J.T.)
in order to appreciate the details in greater clarity. I
saw the object for five minutes and captured it on my SONY
340 camcorder."

"On this date, Mexico celebrates the feast of Our
Lady of Guadalupe, so it is common to see balloons aloft
and pyrotechnics. However, I do not believe the object I
videotaped corresponds to anything known." (Muchas
gracias a Scott Corrales y Ana Luisa Cid Fernandes para
esta historia.)

(Editor's Note: The hilltop in the Zacatenco district,
where Juan Diego saw the Virgin Mary, was originally the
site of a temple dedicated to the Aztec goddess
Chalchihuitlicue. Three miles (5 kilometers) to the
north-northwest lies the pre-Columbian ruins at El
Arbolillo, where "a profusion of female figurines" dating
back to 1,500 B.C. was found by archaeologists.)

CIRCULAR UFO VIDEOTAPED IN MEXICO'S YUCATAN

"The latest and clearest UFO sighting took place last
Sunday," December 12, 2004, "with the filmed evidence of
the presence of a circular UFO with multicolored lights
captured near the city of Ticul," in Mexico's state of
Yucatan.

Ticul "remains the focal point of such encounters
and, according to groups devoted to 'night watches,'"
there have been many close encounters in this section of
southern Yucatan state.

"Silvestre Leal and Emilio Cetz Aguiar, in charge of
the Sociedad Internacional de Rastreo y Investigaciones
OVNI (Translated: International Society for UFO Research
and Investigations; Spanish acronym--SIRIO--J.T.), were
responsible for filming the craft."

"The event occurred Sunday," December 12, 2004,
"during the celebration of the Feast of the Virgin of
Guadalupe, and the encounter had a duration of two minutes
approximately, although only 54 seconds of video footage
were obtained. One hundred and fifty photographs were
obtained for a detailed study. The pixels were analyzed
along with their clarity to confirm that they indeed
filmed a UFO."

"The object in question was a circular structure that
was at a height of 40 to 50 meters (132 to 165 feet) above
the ground of the San Benito futbol (soccer) field,
explained Cetz Aguiar. He described the 'craft' as
measuring 5 meters (16.5 feet) in diameter, with an orange
center surrounded by lights of various colors, of which
blue, green and red were the predominant hues. It made no
sound whatsoever, he said."

"He added that the purpose of their visit was to
research a video taken by Ivan Garma, a Ticul resident, in
recent days."

"'After determining that Garma wasn't home, we toured
the city,'" Cetz Aguiar explained, "'And I suddenly
thought I saw the object, but there was no much light that
I lost it. The time was around 9 p.m.'"

"Subsequently, he continued, the object appeared at
another location and, when he took out his camcorder, it
lost itself amid the buildings of the community."

"Both members of Grupo SIRIO decided to hold a 'night
watch' at the soccer field and were rewarded for their
efforts when the object appeared again, this time much
closer. The sighting took place at 10:15 p.m."

Leal and Cetz Aguiar believe that the UFO could be
the same one that was videotaped over Ticul on two
previous occasions, in August and October of 2004. On
these occasions, the object was videotaped by the Mata
family.

UFO SEEN IN EASTERN LOUISIANA

On Monday, December 13, 2004, Chris K. and his
friends were outdoors in Woodland, Louisiana, 35 miles (58
kilometers) north of Baton Rouge, the state capital, when
they spotted an unusual object approaching from the west.

"It was red, blue, yellow but pulsed to blue a lot,"
Chris reported, "You could see it above the treeline. At
first we thought it was a star, but it moved sideways,
then up and down, then back and forth. It stayed in the
same central spot."

"It looked like it was observing or probing the area.
It was so bright you could see its reflection in the
water. It was like a triangle or V-shaped object. All we
had was binoculars. But it had red and blue light
circles, and yellow and green. It looked like it was
above the treeline on the (western) horizon. We thought
it might have been a star at first, but it moved like no
aircraft could have."

"We do have military bases around here. We didn't
see it leave. It just disappeared." (Email Form Report)

UFO SIGHTED BY FAMILY IN MILDURA, N.S.W.

"Frank McCormack is adamant that the object he and
his family saw in the sky over Mildura," a city in western
New South Wales state in Australia, "did not come out of a
beer bottle."

"'We were having a barbecue. I was busy cooking the
barbecue,' he said."

"'Yes, we were having refreshments, but it was far
too early to be seeing double, seeing things that were not
there.'"

"It was 7 p.m., with a clear sky, and still daylight.
Frank's daughter-in-law spotted a strange object in the
sky. The rest of the family sighted it, as well."

(Editor's Note: Right now it's early summer in Australia,
New Zealand, Chile and the other countries of the southern
hemisphere.)

"'We finally spotted the shining white object, coming
in from the east (over Australia's Mallee Cliffs National
Park--J.T.) to come across towards Mildura,' Frank says."

"'We continued to look at it to see if we could
establish what it was, and then it became stationary. It
stopped over Mildura. So, while we were watching it, two
similar objects came in from the west. They just
manoeuvered around like a rendezvous with the stationary
one; then they just departed and went back west. Then the
other one that was stationary started to move towards the
east.'"

"Nobody who saw them could work out what they were,
but Frank is certain of what they weren't."

"'It wasn't an aircraft, it wasn't a balloon, it
wasn't a helicopter--there was quite a bit of glare from
the sun. We actually looked at them through binoculars,
but we still couldn't figure out what they were.'"

"'I think they were a long way up. I think they were
too high for a helicopter. If they'd continued in a
straight line across the sky, we'd have possibly thought
they were satellites.'"

"Doug Moffert, from UFO Research-New South Wales,
says Frank's encounter in typical in some ways--especially
in the 'round table discussion' afterwards of 'could it be
this, could it be that.'"

"While typical in that way, Frank is unusual in his
willingness to come forward and talk about what he saw."

Mildura, N.S.W. is about 400 kilometers (250 miles)
west of Sydney, the largest city in Australia. (See the
Australian Broadcasting Corp. news story for December 14,
2004, "UFO over Sunraysia?" Many thanks to Robert Fischer
for forwarding the transcript of this news broadcast.)

JESUS APPEARS ON A DOOR IN CONNECTICUT

"When she came home from church on Monday," December
13, 2004, "Matilda Munoz of Waterbury, Conn. (population
107,271) said she found markings on her door that looked
like Jesus."

"She said she immediately got chills."

"The door has been drawing dozens of visitors from
across the city to the woman's Wall Street home" in
Waterbury.

"But the (Roman) Catholic Church isn't verifying it
just yet."

"The Rev. Kevin Gray of Sacred Heart Church said he
visited Munoz Wednesday morning," December 15, 2004, "but
the Church has a long process for determining if something
is a true apparition." (See the Waterbury, Conn.
Republican for December 15, 2004, "Woman sees image of
Jesus appear on her door." Many thanks to Mary Lou Jones-
Drown for this news story.)

(Editor's Comment: Last week Jesus appeared in a dental X-
ray in Phoenix, Arizona. This week it's a door in
Waterbury, Connecticut. This is getting ominous. The
last time we had these multiple apparitions, Dubya invaded
Iraq. Makes you wonder what's on tap for 2005, doesn't
it?)

CHUPACABRA GOES ON A RAMPAGE IN CHILE

"The affected parties cannot agree as to what caused
so much damage" in Pencahue, a town in central Chile, on
Thursday, December 9, 2004. "They think the author of the
slayings could have been a dog, a cat, a small feline
known as a quique or even the mythical Chupacabras."

"Eighty birds being raised on the property of Eliana
Nunez and Reinaldo Sepulveda on the Calle Alonso Rivera
(street) near the Plaza de Armas in Pencahue met a grisly
end."

"It was Nunez who found out what happened, when she
stepped out into her vast yard at 9 a.m. A large henhouse
stands amid fruit trees and dry pastures. Terrified, she
found a multitude of lifeless chickens, hens and roosters
scattered across the property. Their bodies were
complete, but they displayed small and deep bite marks."

"'I was frightened to see my little chicks dead,'
Eliana told (the Chilean newspaper) El Centro. She can't
imagine who or what could have comitted such an atrocity."

"The couple gave notice immediately to the
Carabineros (Chilean national police--J.T.) headquarters
at Pencahue. Officers reached the scene and began looking
for traces that might lead to the author of the slayings.
But they found nothing, not a track, not a trace of the
party responsible for the savage attack that occurred
while the owners slept."

"Juan Orellana, who works for the Pencahue
environmental program, was also in attendance. 'We have
about 80 chickens scattered all around the henhouse, and
they showed no signs of having been chewed. They were
scattered throughout almost the entire sector. They are
complete, and some chickens have signs of bite marks. We
cannot establish an effective working hypothesis. The
case is strange, and it could have been dogs, cats--I
don't know if the quique was involved,' he theorized."

"'The henhouse was closed under lock and key, and the
gate appeared to have been forced from the bottom, showing
that something had gotten in. I locked it up last night
around 9 o'clock and heard no strange sounds,' said Don
Reinaldo, who believes that the one responsible for the
deaths arrived via the irrigation canal that runs near his
house."

"The affected parties, the Carabineros and the
official for the environmental program counted 25
chickens, 28 hens and 2 roosters as deceased. 'Look,
there's another,' said a uniformed officer as he surveyed
the yard, which was covered with feathers."

"The information was collected in a police report and
forwarded to the District Attorney's office in Talca," a
small city located 225 kilometers (135 miles) south of
Santiago de Chile, the national capital, "for the crimes
of 'damage to farm birds.'"

"According to Juan Orellana, 'The (Chilean)
Agricultural and Livestock Service (Spanish acronym: SAG--
J.T.) asked me to bring in two birds for analysis. We're
going to bury the rest, since they're a source of disease.
I have contacted environmental hygiene.'"

"Once initial inquiries were done, the dead birds
were buried in the rear of the house in an eerie ceremony.
No one dared to establish in an authoritative manner what
exactly had attacked the property, located only a few
meters from Town Hall. What they did say was that such
incidents had never occurred around the peaceful (farm)
commune of Pencahue." (See the Chilean newspaper El
Centro for December 10, 2004, "Strange avian deaths near
town square." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Cristian
Quintero del grupo Planeta UFO para esto articulo de
diario.)

BUFFALO WEIRDNESS

"A white buffalo and its mother were chased through a
Kentucky suburb just outside the city of Louisville
Tuesday," December 14, 2004, "by police and firefighters."

"The owner of the animals said the younger buffalo is
one of just two white buffalo in the country (USA).
Authorities said someone cut the fence of the animals'
pasture, and off they ran. The pursuers finally caught up
with the pair with the aid of a news helicopter. The
animals were then corraled in a nearby park and
transported home."

Curiously, the white buffalo chase came on the
anniversary of the greatest snowstorm ever to hit the city
of Buffalo, N.Y. (population 292,648).

"Buffalo, New York is used to big lake-effect
snowstorms. During most storms, it's business as usual
for this city built on the shores of Lake Erie. On this
day in 1945, it was a different story. A record-setting
(snow) storm dumped 36.6 inches (1.1 meters) of snow at
the official recording station. Unofficial totals south of
the city," in Lackawanna, Woodland Beach and West Seneca,
N.Y. "reached up to 70 inches (1.75 meters). This shut
down the city." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for
Wednesday, December 15, 2004, "Today's Weather Fact," page
10D.)

GIGANTIC ICEBERG CHOKES OFF McMURDO SOUND

"A remnant of the largest iceberg ever recorded is
blocking Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, threatening tens of
thousands of penguin chicks with starvation and cutting
off a supply route for three science stations."

"The iceberg, known as B15A, measures about 1,200
square miles and is a remnant of one that broke off the
Ross Ice Shelf in 2000. That one measured about 4,400
square miles, the size of the Caribbean island of Jamaica,
and was the largest iceberg ever recorded."

"B15A is the 'largest floating thing on the planet
right now,' says Lou Sanson, chief executive of the
government scientific agency Antarctica New Zealand. It
is so big that it has blocked wind and water currents that
break up ice floes in McMurdo Sound during the Antarctic
summer, which begins" in December 2004.

"Though the situation is a growing concern, the
science stations are not immediately in danger of running
out of supplies, Sanson says."

"The same cannot be said for the newborn Adele
penguins. Tens of thousands of the chicks could starve in
coming weeks because the ice buildup in the Sound has cut
off their parents' access to waters where they catch their
fish, Sanson says." (See USA Today for December 15, 2004,
"Giant iceberg threatens habitats, supply route," page
8D.)

"ANOMALY" CAUSES U.S. MISSILE TO GO HAYWIRE

"An experimental interceptor missile failed to get
off the ground early Wednesday," December 15, 2004, "in a
test of the U.S. national missile-defense system, raising
new doubts about prospects for the imminent activation of
the system. It was the first full test in nearly two
years."

"A target missile, a simulated ICBM with a mock
warhead, was launched without problem from Kodiak, Alaska
at 12:45 a.m." Washington D.C. time, "a statement from the
Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency said."

"However, 16 minutes later, an 'unknown anomaly' led
to an automatic shutdown of the interceptor missile
shortly before it was to launch from Kwajalein Atoll in
the central Pacific Ocean. The target missile crashed
into the ocean. The agency gave no other details."

"Most missile-launching systems are designed to shut
down automatically as a safety feature. The Missile
Defense Agency said program officials will review pre-
launch data to determine the cause for Wednesday's
shutdown."

"The Missile Defense Agency has attempted the test
several times this month, but scrubbed each one for a
variety of reasons, including weather and a malfunction on
a recovery vessel not directly related to the equipment
being tested."

"Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's former chief of testing
who has become a critic of the Bush administration's
missile defense plans, said the cause of the failure could
have been anything from a software glitch to a major
hardware malfunction. He called the failure a 'serious
setback.'"

"Coyle said, 'This latest failure to intercept a
target shows again that the system being deployed in
Alaska has no demonstrated capability to work' against a
real attack."

"During the test, the interceptor's primary goal was
to collect data on the interceptor's performance. The
test also was to have been the first in which the
interceptor used the same booster rocket that the
operational system would use."

"Because it didn't fire, it is possible that the
interceptor could be used again in a future test. The $85
million test was not immediately scheduled, nor was it
clear whether it would affect a test scheduled for the
spring (of 2005). A primary goal of that test would be an
actual intercept."

"Two previous tests scheduled for this year (2004)
were delayed due to technical problems. In earlier
testing, the interceptors went 5-for-8 when launched with
the goal of hitting target missiles."

"It was unclear how the failure would affect plans to
put the missile-defense system on alert sometime in the
next two weeks. The Bush administration had made it a
goal to activate the system by the end of 2004. It is
intended to protect against missiles launched from North
Korea or elsewhere in eastern Asia."

"'Since we don't know the cause of the anomaly, we
won't speculate on potential impacts to either beginning
initial operations or conducting future tests,' said Rick
Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency."

"The system will initially rely on interceptors based
at Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base,
California, as well as radars in Alaska, California and in
orbit." (See USA Today for December 16, 2004, "Missile-
defense test fails as 'anomaly' shuts down interceptor,"
page 13A.)

CASSINI PERFORMS FLYBYS OF TITAN AND DIONE

The robot spacecraft Cassini completed flybys at two
of Saturn's moons last week, one at Titan, the ringed
planet's largest moon, and the other at Dione.

The spacecraft's flybys "revealed vast cliffs of ice
and hidden clouds" on both moons, according to NASA
scientists.

Dione, a small icy moon, was visited by the
spacecraft Voyager 1 in 1980. The Voyager mission led
scientists to believe that Dione was "coated with wisps of
ice. But a closer passage" by Cassini "reveals those
wisps are actually tall ice cliffs fracturing the moon's
frozen crust, says mission imaging chief Carolyn Porco of
the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado."

The latest Cassini photos of Dione also "show large
circular craters with central peaks, similar to the
Archimedes crater on Luna, Earth's moon," UFO Roundup
editor Joseph Trainor pointed out.

On Monday, December 13, 2004, Cassini performed its
second close flyby of Titan, a Saturnian moon almost as
large as Earth. "Titan is the second-largest moon in the
solar system and the only one with a dense atmosphere.
Frozen conditions on Titan, where surface temperatures
average minus 290 degrees" on the Fahrenheit scale "and
its complex atmospheric chemistry mimic those of the early
Earth."

Cassini flew 746 miles (1,193 kilometers) above
Titan's frozen surface, covering the same side of the moon
that the first flyby in October 2004 covered. The flyby
also included "a second look at the landing site of the
Huygens probe, which will parachute onto Titan on January
14, 2005."

"'We're suddenly realizing ourselves the landing is
approaching,' says Huygens scientist John Zarnecki of the
United Kingdom's Open University. 'What really scares me
is (Huygens') entry into Titan's atmosphere. That will be
a fiery and violent event.'"

During the flyby, NASA scientists double-checked "the
density of Titan's atmosphere to ensure that the (Huygens)
probe pops its parachute at the best altitude. Mission
scientists plan to perform this check by relying on the
light from two stars: Spica, in the constellation Virgo,
and Shaula, the stinger in the constellation Scorpius.
During the flyby, light from these stars will shine
through Titan's clouds and be detected by Cassini,
revealing atmospheric composition and density."

Huygens is expected to separate from the Cassini
spacecraft on Friday, December 24, 2004--Christmas Eve.

"Cassini plans more than 40 flybys of Titan. The
next one, in February (2005), will be the closest yet, at
590 miles (744 kilometers)." (See USA Today for December
13, 2004, "Cassini pays a second visit to Saturn's mystery
moon Titan," page 5D; and for December 20, 2004, "Cassini
finds icy cliffs on Saturn moons," page 6D.)

From the UFO Files...

1955: ALIEN ENCOUNTERS IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA

It was November 1955, and Australia was in the midst
of a year-long UFO flap. But Joyce Mirabella, age 7, and
her older sister, Mary, knew nothing about it as they went
outdoors to play at their home in Hastings, Victoria
state.

After meeting up with their friends, Billy Allen and
Lois Wallace, the girls headed for the hospital in
Hastings. As Joyce recalls, "This day we were going to
see what we could find at the old dam behind the hospital.
It had been filled in, and the hospital used it as a waste
depository. We had found some syringes and were heading
home when something made the hair stand up on the back of
my neck."

"My sister and I turned at the same time, just as a
silvery metallic object materialised. It was dome-shaped,
probably 10 feet (3 meters) tall. Its side opened into a
door. It just materialised."

"As we were watching the spectacle, an opening
appeared in the side, and a ramp came out. Then a white-
haired woman came and stood in the opening. She was
followed by around five small humanoid figures much
shorter than she. Some were wearing green tight-fitting
suits, and others were wearing blue tight-fitting suits.
As a child, I always believed they were green and blue
people."

"The small humanoids began to chase us, and we ran
for our lives."

About a month later, in December 1955, Joyce and Mary
had another alien encounter. This second incident
occurred at Devils Dam, an earthen dam on a small
reservoir behind the orchard on Hodgkins Road in Hastings.

"We went into the orchard to pick the green plums,
which ripen in December," Joyce recalled, "There were a
few trees quite near the dam. Billy Allen was with us. I
was leaning over the dam, in the middle section, when I
was wrenched back from the edge by my sister (Mary), as I
saw a horrible brown frog-like creature lurch up at me.
It had a dark brown leathery-like skin, was about two feet
(0.6 meters) tall, and appeared to be wearing a breathing
apparatus. I can remember the bronze straps located in
the middle of the chest and a funnily-shaped package on
its back, almost like a miniature Jules Verne breathing
apparatus. It also had huge goggles covering its eyes.
It appeared to have no real neck, and its mouth seemed
over-large. A very frightening creature."

"We called it a 'frog-man.' Sounds weird, doesn't
it?"

(Editor's Note: Not that weird. A similar frog-like
entity was seen on March 3, 1972 by police officers on
patrol on Riverside Road near Loveland, Ohio. See
Unexplained Mysteries of the Twentieth Century by Janet
and Colin Bord, Contemporary Books, Chicago, Illinois,
1989, page 246.)

"Many times I have tried to document was has happened
to my and my family during our lifetime, only to put it
off as being too ridiculous for belief. It still seems
that way when I read what I have written."

"Interestingly, my son just a few years ago was
swimming with his friend in a reservoir at Linton in
Victoria when they came running home terrified. They were
convinced that a UFO had tried to capture them."

Hastings, Vic. is 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of
Melbourne, on Westernport Bay. Linton is 32 kilometers
(20 miles) southwest of Ballarat, the second largest city
in Victoria.

The 1954-1955 UFO flap in Australia was documented by
paranormal researcher Harold T. Wilkins in his book,
Flying Saucers Uncensored. According to Wilkins, UFOs
were seen near Melbourne on December 25, 1954; Malvern on
February 9, 1955; and Moola Boola station, 240 miles (384
kilometers) east of Perth, W.A. on March 1, 1955. (Many
thanks to Mrs. Joyce Sullivan for the series of email
interviews.)

This coming Saturday is Christmas Day, and, as we do
every year, the editor and readers of UFO Roundup would
like to extend holiday greetings to the gallant men and
women serving on active duty in the armed forces of
Earth's many nations.
For you, Christmas might be just another day where dinner
consists of MREs heated on a Humvee's engine block or a
few quick mouthfuls between looking through your gunsight
or toting a hundred-pound ruck up some sandy hillside. If
you find yourself on duty Christmas day, doing any of the
above, rest assured that the readers of UFO Roundup know
you're out there. We appreciate the difficult job you're
doing, and we wish you a hearty "Merry Christmas!"

And we'll be back next week, with more UFO, Fortean
and paranormal phenomena from around the planet Earth--and
occasionally, Saturn--all brought to you by "the paper
that goes home--UFO Roundup." Have a safe and happy
holiday season!

UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2004 by Masinaigan Productions, all
rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO
Roundup on their Web sites or in news groups provided that
they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list
the date of issue in which the item first appeared.